Happy September 1st!

Sorry for the delay - life got busy! We moved, Mike had his surgery, I had a baby and now we can relax!

Jeremy Cooper Dean Szala arrived 15 days early on Wednesday August 12th at 20h06 weighing 9 pounds 5 oz. He is now nearly three weeks old. Lily is enjoying being a big sister and likes telling us when 'Jeremy' wants chocolate ice cream :-)

Mike is fully recovered from his surgery to correct his sleep apnea and we'll know in three weeks time how successful it was. Thus far, Mike is happy with the results.

As of today, I am a full time employee of the Thames Valley District School Board - on maternity leave until next August. Yippee!

Hope you enjoy the pictures. Blogger is actually not being very helpful, so it looks like we're a little short on pictures today, we'll try again later.

Cheers,
Pamela

Tonight as I was cuddling with Lily at Bedtime I asked her what she'd like to name the baby.

Boy Names:
Ghana
Nick

Girl Names:
Ula


I am not kidding!

PPS

Happy July 13th :-)

Tonight we headed over to the Hippo Park to do a wee bit of gardening and a whole lot of wading in the wading pool. Here's Lily and her Daddy enjoying their time! Enjoy PPS












Even with how cold it was, Mike still went in the water to be with Lily :-)

Mike has done an awesome job on our garden!


Here are some of the signs for our upcoming harvest :-)

Happy Canada Day!


Pamela, Michael and 32 week Kung-Fo Baby
Pilon-Szala Family celebrating Canada Day!

Lily and I at Nana's

Jojo showing off his new costume.

Cora and Lily at Jojo's 4th birthday pa



Adorable Little Sarah

Before picture of our future living room
Before picture of our future bedroom - to the right is our 8 foot closet :-)

Lily and Mike on Father's Day


Lily and her Elmo sprinkler

Lily and her bubbles

Welcome to Part II of the Canada Day post :-) Lily and I had a great time tonight at the Canada Day Celebrations. I decided to forgo the fireworks as they're not ready until 10 p.m. and Lily doesn't like the combination of dark and loud noises :-) Most of these pictures are from my recent trip with our grade 7 & 8 students to Quebec City.

Breakfast chez Paillard on our last morning in Quebec City.

The souvenir I really wanted to bring home for Lily!

Pamela at 29 weeks

On our last night there we were treated to dinner and a 'dance' at the Manior Montmerency. Lt - rt are Tom (7/8 Teacher), Meaghan (Teacher-Librarian) and I (gr 6/7 Teacher)

A fellow teacher and I - Meaghan
One of the most beautiful natural wonders in Quebec is Montmerency Falls. On the left are the falls, above it the suspension bridge and to the right the stairs that we walked down (me at 29 weeks pregnant ;-)


A close up of the suspension bridge.

The Stairs!

The home that inspired the "Adam's Family" house.

We visited the copper museum where I was able to create little something for Mike :-)




Once upon a time, there was no electricity so what they did was build these little cellars along the road to keep the food cold. We had my kids convinced for a while that they were hobbit homes.

At the Bee museum we got to get up close and personal with the bees - yikes!

Ste. Anne Basilica - just gorgeous!

If you look past all the lights, you can see the Chateau Frontenac - from my hotel room :-)

Jeannine and I met during my first exchange in 1994 - happy 15th Anniversary :-)



:-)

This mural represents almost 400 years of Quebec history - really cool!

The week we went to Quebec, Maclean's cited this restaurant as a great place to eat - this is where we had breakfast on our second day.

I'm hanging out on the Duffering Terrace, just at the base of the Chateau Frontenac

I LOVE the street art in Quebec - this is one of my favourite pieces :-)

Lily enjoys her roller blades - for about 40 seconds :-) I think she just enjoys wearing 'wheels' like her Daddy.

It's odd that my 201st blog comes nearly 8 weeks after my last post!

Sorry for the delay, however, life has been busy. In a nutshell, in the past eight weeks;

• I had my third Mother's Day :-)

• We had a terrific weekend in Toronto where we were able to visit GREAT friends and have a really good time.
• Mike had his 33rd Birthday
  
• Mike had his 3rd Father's Day
  
• I worked about 60-70 hours a week to get my Gr. 6 students ready for the provinical testing as well as all the other material they need to know
• I went on the Gr. 7/8 class trip to Quebec City, including a rendez-vous with a woman I've been friends with for 15 years :-) (since my high school exchange to Rimouski, Quebec)
• Mike has written five (5!) chapters of his thesis that he plans on submitting around August 1st
  
• I have written 25 report cards (approx 15 hour adventure)
• I have worked 40 hours (above my teaching job) to create a Facilitator Guide for the Job Readiness program for At Risk Student that I'm working this week at
  
• We attended Jojo's 4th Birthday!
  
• I have been offered (and accepted!) a full time job at Tollgate Central French Immersion as their grade 6/7 classroom Teacher
• I have started the paperwork for my maternity leave (Aug 2009 - May 2010)
• We have chosen July 25th/26th as our moving day

That's it in a nutshell :-) At 32 weeks of pregnancy, my body is demanding that I slow it down. Saturday is my first day of not working in a long time, so I'm getting a pedicure with the gift certificate a group of my awesome students gave me as a year end gift :-)

Lily and I are going out for some Canada Day celebrations, more photos to come.

In May we hung out with a former colleague/friend and his family.





Here's Mike planting my Mother's Day gifts :-)


Lily and Robin baking.


The Luther gang at their 15 year gathering.

Lily reading with Steph and Mike.

Happy Mother's Day!

I'm having a restful morning that started with some books being 'read' to me by Lily followed by a terrific breakfast from Mike :-) They're at swimming so I've got some time to post some photos and to send out a great big Happy Mother's Day to all of the women who have made such an incredible impact on our world!

Life has been hectic in the Pilon-Szala household. Lily is in full potty training mode complete with two treats every time she uses the potty. At first I was against it, but I am now converted! She is doing really well with it and daycare has said that she is now ready for underwear (perhaps too much information for some of you, but you other Moms you know what a big milestone this is!). The pregnancy is going well. My students are very mindful about me being pregnant. I have one student that shouts out to the class 'Quite down, you're upsetting the baby' when the class gets too rowdy. They've already started to think up names for the baby :-)

I have accepted an offer with the Thames Valley District School Board for a full time teaching position starting September 1, 2009! It was a terrific feat as 65 of us interviewed and only 6 of us received offers in a year that the school board announced that there would be absolutely no hirings! A huge relief for our little family! I don't know where I'll be teaching but my students, principal and colleagues at my current school would like me to stay. Since I'll be on maternity leave for nine or ten months, it really doesn't matter, so long as I've got a class to go back to work in. I'm really enjoying working with the intermediate students so I'm hopeful that's where I'll get to stay.

For those who don't know, my younger sister Connie, aka Corporal Constance Spittachine has been deployed and is now serving a tour in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Thanks to technology we get to hear from her and she still gets to see photos of family, especially her 4 year old Whalen and 2 year old Cora.

Enough with the writing and on with the photos!

Happy Mother's Day! I love flowering trees but they agrivate Mike's allergies so I just have to admire them from afar!
Mike and Lily tilling the garden.

Mike surveying our plot for our community garden.

While getting my garden ready for my Mother's Day Gift (Mike gave me a carte blanche to plant what ever I wanted in my five beds around the house, AND he'd plant it all :-) we uncovered an ant colony!

Lily is pretending that she is Mommy and she is seriously mocking me and the method that I need to employ to get myself out of these chairs! She's lucky she's cute!

Alex truly enjoying his Sunday afternoon - baby white donuts AND bubbles! What's a kid to do with so much excitement!?

Alex and Lily playing in Alex's water table.


I'm enjoying blowing bubbles for Alex. Lily has decided to run around Matt's yard like an ape!




Alex is enjoying his Babybel cheese :-)

As part of our fundraising efforts for my school's Grade 7/8 Trip to Québec I've mentored 7 students on how to make beaded jewelery. They made the necklaces over their lunch hours for the months of March and April. We then auctioned them off last Friday at the school's auction night. In total they raised over $230 :-)


Cora, Connie and Lily at Connie's Bon Voyage gathering

Cora is so much like Connie it is unreal!

What a handsome husband I have!!! :-)
Lily LOVES her 'Whalen-Guy'


Whalen is sitting and thinking....

Our lovely little girl and her awesome sunglasses!

Connie eating her 'bon voyage' cake. She left for for her tour in Afghanistan on April 28th.

Cora is very excited about the story she is reading to us.
I kind of think they look related!! Cora is on the left and she's four months younger than Lily, on the right.


Donna and I hanging out :-)

I think Whalen is trying to eat Connie's ear...

Family Photo.

Connie tried desperately to get a group photo of her, Ollie and the kids. This was three days before she left for Afghanistan and she really wanted a good photo.

Connie and I at the bowling alley.

Connie, Mike and Lily at bowling.

Lily giving Connie a Kiss Bye Bye.

Great couple of weeks. One of the highlights was meeting baby Dylan (belongs to Chris & Miia of Halifax). The super duper little caper stole our hearts during his wee visit to London. Thank you Miia for doing the drive!


Kyle and Rebecca :-)

Mike reading to Lily and Dylan. Lily was quite patient with Dylan when he tried to eat her books.

Lily is all ready for her Easter Morning Egg Hunt. Connie set it up for the younger ones to be able to follow footsteps to eggs. Whalen found it too easy!

Lily and Cora comparing notes in the laundry room.


Lily and her super sonic puddles!

t


I love this photo of Lyle. He's quietly surveying the yard to see what work needs to be done before he starts his new job next week.

At 21 weeks pregnant I'm beginning to take the shape of a pear :-)

For years we've been promising Uncle John that we'd go bowling with him, and we finally did this past Monday!

Uncle John and Lily setting the pins.

Yeah - the two year old kicked my butt! And yes, my husband got three strikes on his final frame to edge towards victory!

The Szala-Pilon-Vickers party

Seriously - I go bowling just for the shoes :-)

The Children's Museum is always a great place to go during a day off school. On Good Friday they offered cookie and egg decorating as well as a viewings of the Easter Bunny.

Lily's hair is getting seriously curly these days!

Lily and Mike decorating her cookie

Lily is wondering what all the fuss on the other side of the room is about. Yet another great example of her 'stink face'.



Lily enjoyed visiting with Baby Dylan from Halifax. She especially enjoyed rubbing his forehead and calling him Fuzzy.

Chris and Miia's love ~ Dylan

Lily would run up to Dylan and 'tickle' him and in response he would give her a great big giggle!

Welcome back :-) I find it rather sad that it's been more than a month since my last blog. However, life has been hectic - in a good way :-)

We had March Break where we had my nephew Whalen, my niece Cora, their dad Anthony and his girlfriend Liz down for a visit. We also attended my cousin Diane's baby shower as well as a visit with our friends in Courtice. It's been rather hectic - but fun!

School is going well. I spent about 18 hours working on report cards at the end of March and have started my final term with my grade 6 and 7 students. I know that I'm a candidate to be hired by the School Board that I'm currently working for, but we haven't heard whether or not there is a job for me. We're still waiting....

Here are some pictures, in no particular order....


Karen and I smiling for the camera! It's been a year since we were in Teacher's College together!

Mike has started he seedlings in our basement. We're part of a community garden and he and Lily are already on top of things!

Lily and Mike at swimming lessons.

And she's off!!

Lily is checking out the ducks below the bridge.

Szala family photo at Gibbons Park in London.

Arden enjoying the spring.

The Baby Shower Crew - my cousin's 13 year old Dakota, my Aunt Chrissy, cousin Diane and the co-organizer Natalie.

A photo of the gift in better in light. I had fun making it for my cousin and her upcoming little boy.

An attempt at capturing the gift that I made for Dianne.


It's been almost ten years since we met and we still love each other :-)

Mike and Lily at the park. A few minutes after this Lily was watching a young boy on the teeter-tawter and got her nose bonked that resulted in her first ever nose bleed :-(

The baby shower wiped her out.

Lily is using the microscope at the Children's Museum.

Spring has Sprung!

Lily is trying to keep it all together!

Lily LOVES reading books and being read to.

Lily at the Take-out at the Mini-McDonald's at the Children's Museum.

Moving from the Native exhibit to the Pioneer exhibit.

Lily and her horses.

Lily and Whalen waiting for the horses.

Cora and Liz are involved with with system of maple syrup.


Get him, Cora!

Mike is explaining to Lily that maple syrup comes from trees :-)

Lily and Mike on a pony ride at the Maple Sugar Bush.

Lily enjoying her ice cream cone - I'm sure of it!

Pamela and Mike :-)

Pamela and Whalen.

Group photo at the Children's Museum ~ Cora, Pamela, Whalen, Lily, Mike, Liz and Antony.

On St. Patrick's Day, Lily and I hung out with Erin, Prue and Gigi at the Children's Museum. Erin and Prue attempting to make the balls bounce.

We hung out with Gigi on St. Patrick's Day :-)